Sample Falk & Klou’s Golden Age Styled Library Grooves

Inspiration

Sample Falk & Klou’s Golden Age Styled Library Grooves

Multi-instrumentalists Falk (Fredrik Segerfalk) & Klou (Carl Johan ‘CJ’ Fogelklou) bring Swedish library grooves into the golden age of jazz and funk. Straight from their studios crammed with vintage gear, they explore mid-70s sounds of rare grooves and KPM and Bruton-inspired library music. Fredrik 'Falk' Segerfalk breaks down a variety of multitracks and songs that are now available on Tracklib:

By

Tracklib

·

July 28, 2022

Can you cherry-pick a few favourites to show why your library record ‘Swedish Library Grooves Vol. 2’ is so suitable for sampling?

Cosmic jazz adventure “Kosmonaut” has an eclectic mix of groove, melodies, and instruments to start building new musical worlds. “CBS” is super melodic and contains the great voice of Hanna Dahlberg.

And what about your newest record, 'Swedish Library Moods 001?

Truth be told: all the songs are great! [laughs] The album is quite stripped-down and not so song-centric as Swedish Library Grooves Vol 2, more closely matching the original style of KPM and Bruton, which have been major inspirations. How about “Fusion Reaction” which has that Weather Report feel with CJ’s distinctive playing of the fretless bass like a madman. Or “Area 47:1” for a really tight groove with juicy toppings—and not to forget: cowbell!

What studio gear and instruments do you use to get as close to that golden-era sound as possible?

Living in different cities, we have two studios with primarily vintage gear such as Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Minimoog, Solina Strings, Yamaha CS-60/80, all kinds of guitars and basses, amps, percussion, a super dope 70s clear acrylic drum kit with assorted snares that we mostly mic with old Sennheisers... There’s also a Tascam 8-track, mixers, a selection of silver flutes—and not to forget: a fair bit of outboard where the different space echoes get the majority of use.

For the flute recording on the track “Winter Embrace,” we used the mic pre in the RE201 with a hint of reverb and minimum settings on the echo, just to add some depth and grit, whereas “Cosmic Travels” goes all-in on both the Rhodes and the Arp Pro/DSX.

space echo falk & klou library music

"Crate-digging and sample clearing have always been different worlds. Tracklib has flipped that to everyone's benefit!"

—Fredrik 'Falk' Segerfalk

You said you were inspired by iconic UK libraries like KPM and Bruton. But what’s the sound of your own “Swedish library grooves” like?

Sweden had a very strong jazz/jazz-rock/fusion scene with acts such as Made in SwedenBjörn J:son LindhJanne SchafferBo HanssonMerit HemingssonKornetKebeneKaise, and many more. Many of them with a distinctive Nordic feeling. By that, I mean melancholic and not-so-happy. Lack of sun, I guess. Those are some of the bands that I grew up with during the 70s, together with Bob James’ 1976 record, Three.

You mentioned George Benson when you shared “Common Sky” on Instagram. Was he a big source of inspiration for that song?

CJ has a George Benson signature Ibanez guitar which he loves to play “Breezin’” on whenever possible. Our song “Common Sky” was written in 2012 and I just thought it had a very Benson-esque vibe in the melody. He’s a legend to us. Such an amazing catalog! “Give Me the Night” is one of those perfect songs with impeccable arrangement and production by Quincy Jones.

I noticed quite a few guest musicians on “Sunshine.” What did they bring to the sound of Falk & Klou?

Sunshine” started with a groove and the basic form, but lacked any melody. Later in the summer, I played the track on the kitchen radio, and my then 10-year-old daughter started singing something that fits perfectly, that was actually a song from her school choir. We ended up adopting and modifying it together with the super talented saxophone player Daniel Cederskär and ditto trumpet player Jakob Gudmundsson whom both were featured across the Swedish Library Grooves Vol. 2 album. The drums were played and recorded by mastermind Federico Gucciardi from his HQ in Italy.

Why have you decided to add your catalog to Tracklib?

Being an old sample head, it simply felt like an honor to be lined up with some of my old heroes. I can now officially brag about being signed on the same company as Bob James[laughs] The actual record is also available on 12” via Swedish label Hattrick, by the way.

How do you think Tracklib can change the way people sample?

Crate-digging and sample clearing have always been different worlds—the latter being the shitty side of production. Tracklib has flipped that to everyone's benefit!

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